Linguine with Roast Chicken and Pine Nuts
Linguine with roast chicken, pine nuts and golden raisins is an easy and delicious dinner. Pasta and chicken come together with a light pan sauce to make a simple meal that will feed the whole family with very little effort. Serve this pasta dinner with a grilled zucchini salad or a green salad.
This linguine with roast chicken dinner is about as uncomplicated as you can get, but the flavors are amazing. The pan juices from the chicken become part of the sauce for the pasta with a handful of golden raisins and toasted pine nuts tossed in.
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Linguine with roast chicken
I would normally give you a free pass to use a store-bought rotisserie chicken, but not this time. It’s the juices from the roasting pan that make this dish. The deep, roasted flavor that you can not get from anything other than roasting your own chicken.
If you can’t get a whole chicken; skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs are a great substitute.
My preferred method for roasting a chicken is on a bed of aromatics (celery, carrots, onion, garlic or any combination thereof) inside of a cast iron or roasting pan. If your oven has a convection function, now is the time to use it.
Crank the oven up to 400°F and roast your bird for an hour, turning it halfway through to ensure crispy skin all over.
Just look at that bronzed beauty. Knowing how to make a perfectly roasted chicken is an essential life skill as far as I’m concerned. It is one that will serve you well throughout your life and it is one that is so simple to to do well.
Pasta with chicken
Another chicken and pasta meal we love is one pot chicken pasta with sun-dried tomatoes. It’s a truly one pan meal that comes together just as easily as this one.
I don’t always feel like pulling out my roasting pan, so making this roast chicken with linguine in a cast iron skillet is usually my go-to. The sauce is made right in the pan used for roasting the chicken and the cast iron pan works great for this.
Normally, I am all about the fresh herbs. You’ll notice that this recipe uses only dried herbs because right now, fresh herbs are not always available. Luckily, my pantry is stocked with dried herbs, so this is a perfect time to use them.
If you don’t have golden raisins on hand, currants are a great substitute. In lieu of either of those, you could try dried apricots or even figs. You need just a touch of sweetness from dried fruit to go with the savory and salty chicken.
If pine nuts aren’t available, toasted walnuts would be a good swap as well as almonds, hazelnuts or whatever you fancy.
I like this dish with linguine or fettuccine, but use whatever pasta you have available.
Right now, we are using what we have in the pantry. This is the perfect time to go through your pantry and see what treasures you have. Then make this pasta with roast chicken.
Used to make linguine with roast chicken
- cast iron pan
- roasting pan
- pine nuts
- whisk – my favorite whisk for pan sauces
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Linguine with Roast Chicken and Pine Nuts
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 - 4 pound chicken or 3 1/2 lbs skin on bone in chicken thighs
- 5 stalks celery
- 2 tsp. dried rosemary divided
- 2 tsp. dried thyme
- 2 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup pine nuts toasted
- 1 pound linguine
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 1 tbsp. flour
- 1 tbsp. dried parsley optional
- 1 tbsp. dried chives optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F (turn on convection if your oven has this feature.)
- Lay the celery in the cast iron or roasting pan & place the chicken on top of it. Rub chicken with the oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper, dried thyme and half of the dried rosemary.
- Place the garlic cloves around the chicken and roast for 1 hour (rotating halfway through roasting), or until juices run clear. Let chicken rest 10 - 15 minutes before pulling meat.
- While the chicken is resting, boil the pasta. Remove 1 cup of boiling pasta water and set aside. Soak the golden raisins for a few minutes in the hot pasta water to plump up.
- Remove celery from pan and discard. Remove garlic cloves from pan and set aside. Skim off some of the fat from the roasting pan by tipping it and letting the juices pool in the corner or side of the cast iron pan. Only skim off the clear fat, not the dark brown juices. Leave a few tablespoons of fat in the pan.
- Sprinkle in the tablespoon of flour and whisk to combine. Add garlic cloves and break up with whisk.
- Add half of the pasta water and whisk to make a light sauce. Add the remaining rosemary, pine nuts and golden raisins.
- Over medium heat, simmer the sauce for 5 - 10 minutes, adding remaining pasta water if sauce is too thick. Sauce should be thin enough to lightly coat noodles, not cling to them.
- While the sauce is simmering, pull the meat (and the lovely crispy skin!) from the chicken and set aside. Drain pasta, toss with chicken, sauce, dried parsley and chives (if using) in a large bowl and serve.
Nutrition
Like always, loved the recipe! Agree with you, the roasting pan juices are full of flavor! I like to stuff the chicken with some garlic, lemon and rosemary and roast it at 425 for 50 to 60 minutes.
Thank you, Mischelle! I am a fan of stuffing the chicken with lemon, garlic and herbs too! Delicious 🙂